One present. Just one.

Of all the traditions my family had while I was growing up, there was one I always looked forward to. Each Christmas Eve we were allowed to open a single present from a family member. One present.

Of all the gifts under the tree I knew exactly which one I wanted to open. Wrapped neatly. About one an a half times the size of a deck of cards. From Great Aunt Katherine. She was so proper. Such a lady. Her gift must be really nice.

Other evening activities complete, it was time to open that alluring gift. As the wrapping came off, I read the contents as printed on the box: Male Grooming Kit. A male grooming kit?

Two sizes of nail trimmers. An emory board. A cuticle remover. A comb. And, a shoe horn. My new, male grooming kit. I was nine years old.

Life is like that, isn’t?

We’ve got our expectations. Our preconceived ideas. Our dreams. And then life… Life hands you a male grooming kit. Useful, perchance, but not what you hoped for.

2020 has been a bit like that male grooming kit. Not the gift we’d have asked for or even welcomed, but it was the year we got. It was the present.

We might grieve the year we didn’t get. The cancelled plans. The disappointments. The special occasions missed. The inconvenience. The separation. The heartache.

But, what did we learn? What good came of all this bad? What hope from all this pain? What love amidst this mess? What has God been after within you through 2020?

God loves you. He works in you. Even if the present feels like a male grooming kit to a nine year old boy.

“For it is God who works within you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

— Philippians 2:13

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The Present